


Have Faith

by ocefraserlass07



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23717824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ocefraserlass07/pseuds/ocefraserlass07
Summary: Catherine Delatour is the daughter of a rich family in Paris. But when she learns a secret that will change her life forever, she decides to leave everything behind her and follow her destiny – one that might eventually lead her to the Carolina wilderness.
Comments: 112
Kudos: 138





	1. A Life Forever Changed

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Outlander fans! This is my second Outlander fanfic, "Have Faith"! If you like it, don't hesitate to leave kudos/ comments! I will be posting the next chapters regularly, stay tuned!
> 
> Don't hesitate to check out my first fanfic as well, "Happy Birthday... Sassenach", if you want some Jamie & Claire romance :)
> 
> PS: English is my mother language, so it is possible you might find a mistake or two.

PARIS, FRANCE 

My name is Catherine Delatour. I’m an educated twenty-five-year-old young woman, the only daughter of a rich and noble Parisian family. My life was that of the typical lady of my rank: it was punctuated with tea breaks, strolls in the garden, conversations with my friends of the high society and sophisticated dinners in fancy dining rooms.  
Everything had been alright, normal, until my life forever changed when I learned a secret that made me realize I had been lied to since the day I was born. 

***

“Mademoiselle Catherine, your mother is asking you to join her in the parlour,” Angèle, my maid, informed me from the door of my large bedroom. I stopped combing my ginger hair to go downstairs in the parlour, where my father would probably be sitting in his armchair, reading his newspaper. To get there I had to walk across the long corridor that led to the stairs. Every time I walked in my house and took a second to admire the many works of art that decorated its walls, I would realize how lucky I was to have been so well-born. My mother, Marie-Jeanne, was a cousin of the King and my father, Jean-Philippe, was the only son of one of the richest Lords in Paris. My very high-ranked parentage had allowed me to get a very thorough education. I spoke English fluently, which was only common among the French nobility and aristocracy. I also mastered the arts of literature and mathematics. I had wealth, knowledge, good health… everything a girl of my age could ask for. But somehow, something was missing, to make me completely happy. I had never been able to know what it was. 

“Did you want to see me?” I asked my mother, who was sitting at a table with my father and a man I had never seen, who looked about fifty, roughly my father’s age.

“Yes, Catherine, please have a seat,” my father said, showing me an empty chair facing the guest.

“You were right, Jean-Philippe. Your daughter is astonishingly beautiful. Despite her ginger hair, I hope our children won’t inherit that gene.”

“I beg your pardon?” I asked, looking at the man with surprise mixed with incomprehension. ‘Our children?’ What was that all about? 

“You see, darling, our friend Charles Dupont here is a very ambitious man. He is seeking the position of head of the royal militia, and his chances of getting there would be increased greatly if he were to be married to a beautiful and well-born young lady. In exchange, he would cover the rather illegal business I set up to avoid paying my taxes. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

“But I don’t want to get married.” I answered. I truly did not want to. I had never felt happier than on the day my former future husband died, killed by his horse.

“But you have to, Catherine. You are a woman, you are supposed to get married and have children anyway,” he answered and my mother nodded.

“So, you think getting married and having children are the only things a woman can do, don’t you?”

“Oh, she’s a fierce one! What a challenge!” said my ‘fiancé’ with too much enthusiasm.

“I need some air,” I said while getting up from my chair before opening the French windows that led into our thousand square-mile garden. Feeling angry, I walked to the nearest bench and sat down, pausing to watch the servants who were on a break playing with their children. Was it how my life was going to be? Being a servant to a man, staying at home and taking care of our children all day? I felt like I had been born for something greater than this. For adventure. 

“Are you alright, Milady?” my maid Angèle asked. Angèle was my only friend here at the mansion. She had always been nice to me, and did not regard me as if I were a doll only meant to find a husband. 

“My parents found a husband for me. He’s much older than me, and I don’t even know him. I don’t want to marry him,” I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. 

“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to…” 

“But I have to. I’m a Delatour. And I’m a woman. I have to do as I’m told…” I noticed a sad look on my maid’s face, but I had the feeling she was not sad because of my situation, as saddening as it was.

“Angèle, are you alright?” I asked, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“I came to give you bad news. Our friend, Mère Hildegarde, is now lying on her death bed. I’m afraid her sickness is taking her to Heaven.”

“Oh, no…” I felt a sadness I had rarely felt before. Mère Hildegarde, from L’Hôpital des Anges, had been a close friend of mine. I used to love playing at the hospital with her dog Bouton when I was a child. All these years, I had considered Mère Hildegarde as a grandmother. 

“Her condition is getting worse by the minute. She might be joining Him very soon, even before tonight. She asked to see you before she… goes.” 

“Thank you very much, Angèle. Tell my parents I’m at the hospital. I have to say goodbye to a friend.” 

***

Climbing the few stairs that led to the Hôpital des Anges, I thought about my childhood and how close I had been to Mère Hildegarde since my younger age. I fought back the tears when thinking that today was the last time I was going to see her. 

“Hello, how can I help you, young lady?” a nun gently asked as I entered the building. 

“I’m here to see my friend, Mère Hildegarde.”

“Yes, God bless her. She’s about to go to Heaven, if you need to talk to her, do it now.”

“I will, thank you.” 

“Come with me.” 

The nun took me to a small private room. The first thing I saw when coming in was poor Mère Hildegarde lying on a bed, her eyes half closed, her face forever altered by sickness. Another nun was lighting up a candle next to the dying woman, before leaving the room after being asked to. Seeing my friend in this condition, I did not dare to speak. I was not sure I knew how to react. Fortunately, the awkward silence was broken by Mother Hildegarde’s weak voice. 

“Catherine, I’m so glad you came…” she whispered, her eyes this time fully open. 

“Mother Hildegarde, I’m happy to see you too. Why did you want to see me?” I asked. 

“Because I have a secret to tell you. As you can see, it cannot wait. I have to tell you my secret, or else I won’t be going to Heaven.”

“Don’t worry, if anyone can go to Heaven, it’s you. You’re the most loyal person I know,” I said, fighting against the tears again. 

“No, I have lied to everyone for years. I have to confess to you.”

“Alright. What is it?”

“Twenty-five years ago, an English woman came to work here. She wanted to help people,” she started, between coughs. “Her name was Claire Fraser. She was young, beautiful, and expecting a child with her Scottish husband. A few weeks before the end of her pregnancy, she started to loose blood, and one day, she fainted. We had to deliver the baby immediately. The little girl was breathing, and one of my nurses took her to another room to clean her. *cough* When she came back, the baby was dead. We all thought she had been born too early and that she had not survived outside her mother’s belly. I had her baptized and buried in the cemetery just outside l’Hôpital. Her name was Faith.”

“It’s horrible,” I said. I could not imagine the pain this woman, Claire, must have felt when she lost her child. 

“Yes, it is. When she woke up, we had to tell her her baby was dead. She was devastated. I brought her the baby before burial, so that she could hold her. She held her daughter in her arms for hours, until we had to bury her. Claire spent several days in bed, crying all tears she could cry. *cough* But a few days later, I saw the nurse who had washed the baby and brought her dead being given money from a man. I asked her what it was all about and she told me everything. His wife had just lost her child and the nurse exchanged Claire’s baby with hers in exchange of money. She said the man had threatened her and her family if she spoke to the militias or to the real mother of the baby, and would not hesitate to have me killed if I did the same. This is why I remained silent all these years. *Cough, cough*

“So you mean… the English lady’s baby was alive and the nurse made her think it was dead? She brought the wrong child?” 

“Yes, this is what happened,” she answered in a very weak voice. 

“I’m sorry, but… how is this related to me? Why did you want to tell me about it?”

“Because the man who gave money to the nurse was… your father.”

“My father??? Why would he steal a baby?”

“Because his wife had just lost her baby, and they wanted a child, so they took Claire’s baby to raise her. You. You are the real Faith Fraser.”


	2. A Shocking Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroine's reaction to the shocking news she has just received from Mère Hildegarde... And how it affects her life, leading her to an important decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, fellow Outlander fans and fic readers! This is the second chapter of my fanfic, Have Faith!   
> First of all, I would like to thank everyone who left kudos and positive comments on the first chapter, I appreciate the encouragement and the compliments!!   
> Secondly... I hope you enjoy this one!!! Don't worry, the third one will come quickly!

I could not believe it. I could simply not believe it. How is one supposed to react when learning that the people they have called “Mother” and “Father” since they were able to speak are, in reality, people who abducted a baby and made her mother believe that she had lost her child. These people were no longer my parents. They were monsters. They had ruined three lives: mine, and that of my real parents who must have grieved me for twenty-five years. Even four lives, because Mother Hildegarde had had to carry this secret alone during her whole life.

Now she seemed as ease, almost peaceful. Without saying a word, she slowly took a letter on the bedside table, and gave it to me. She knew she had done the right thing, and she seemed ready to be welcomed by God. And God did welcome her, less than two minutes after this huge revelation that got me speechless. I could not even say goodbye to the lady who had been a grandmother-like figure to me. No words could escape my mouth. I could scarcely breathe. Tears rolled down my cheeks as a nun came back into the room and gently pulled up the white sheet over her head. I could hardly move as well, another nun had to lead me out of the room. My sensations awoke again when I felt a certain dizziness and nausea, that led me to run outside the hospital to the little park behind it. I did not know whether it was because of the shock of the news I had just learnt, the disgust I was feeling towards the people who had raised me or the striking sadness of losing Mother Hildegarde, but nausea took over me and I vomited at the foot of a tree. When my sickness was finally over, I opened the letter Mother Hildegarde had given me before she passed away, when I was overwhelmed with shock. I knew what it contained but I needed to read it out loud:

_"Dear Catherine, There is a secret, an awful secret, that I was forced to keep for myself all my life. If you’re reading this letter, it means I have joined the angels and God Almighty. I might go to Heaven, but I might as well be sent to Hell for what I have done. Keeping secrets, lying, are sins, that can only be forgiven when confessed. Other than my afterlife, there is another important reason why I should confess this terrible secret to you: you have the right to know where you come from. Everyone has the right to know about their origins. I plan on telling you this on my deathbed, so you will probably know what my secret is when you read these words, but I wanted you to have a written proof to show the people involved if you wanted to. On the day you were born, there has been a terrible incident. You were born several weeks too early, and we were not sure you could be saved. But we did save you, though only two people knew it at the time. I and the nurse who took you to wash you. However, she came back with a dead child in her hands. We had to tell your mother, Claire Fraser, that you had died at birth, and she was so devastated she spent days, even weeks in her bed, crying for you. But after she came back to her home in Scotland with her husband, I learned that the baby we had buried under the name of Faith was in fact not hers, but that of a rich couple living in the richest neighborhood of the city, who bought you and threatened to kill the nurse if anyone was to know about this. I was threatened as well, that is why I kept my mouth shut. Out of pure selfishness. For the first time in my life, I committed a sin. And I have had to live with that all my life. But today, I know I’m going to die. This is why I confess. I know I should have done it sooner, but it was too difficult. Please forgive me, Catherine. And please ask Claire and Jamie Fraser to forgive me as well, if you ever meet them. Claire was a friend, and even though I will be dead when you see her (if you do see her), her forgiveness will mean much to me. If you find them, please show them this letter as a proof of what happened and as a sign of apology._

_Please, receive my deepest apology and all my love. I will be with Bouton soon._

_Mother Hildegarde"_

After reading this letter and slowly putting it back into its envelope, I stood up and realized where I was: it was not a simple park, it was a cemetery. Probably where Mother Hildegarde was to be buried. And probably…

I slowly walked between the rows of gravestones that were bearing the names of the people who were lying there for eternity. I came across the tomb of Bouton, Mother Hildegarde’s old dog, with whom I had spent whole afternoons playing with when I was a child. A few steps further, here it was. The grave I was expecting to see was there. The stone was flat on the floor, a perfect rectangle. A silver spoon was decorating it, and had probably been put there years ago, as it seemed to have been damaged by time. Next to the spoon, one could read the name of the grave’s resident: “Faith Fraser, 1744.”

I dropped on my knees, staining my dress with the wet grass. But I did not care. All I cared for at this moment was that a small baby who had not had time to live was dead, buried in this small cemetery. It had been loved, grieved… But it never lived. She never lived. And I did, I was living, when a child was dead. More tears started to roll down my cheeks as my voice finally came back.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, putting a gentle hand on the small gravestone, “I’m sorry I stole your life… My… *your* parents are monsters, but I think they could have been good people if you had been there with them. You could have made them happy. You could have grown up in a good family. And instead you are here. And people who are not even your real parents grieve you. They grieve me. Us. I hope you rest in peace… Faith.” I got up and turned around to go and confront my parents, when I was stopped by a woman who was waiting behind me.

“Did you know Faith?” the woman asked me. She was a tall woman, who looked slightly more than fifty years old. She was richly dressed, it was undeniable she came from the Parisian bourgeoisie. “Poor child.”

“Did *you* know her?” I asked, wondering who she was. I thought for a second that she could have been the baby’s mother, *my* mother, but no, she was French. Mother Hildegarde had said my mother, Claire, was English. “Yes. Her mother, Claire, was one of my best friends when she was living here in Paris with her husband. I have not seen her ever since she and her husband sailed back to Scotland after they lost their child. We did exchange some letters, but then came the war and the battle of Culloden in Scotland and I have not heard from her any more. Oh, I’m Louise, Marquise de Rohan, by the way.” She extended her hand and I shook it.

“Catherine Delatour. Did she… die at the battle?” I asked, a knot forming in my stomach. No, please. I could not learn that I had been exchanged as a baby and that my real parents had died in less than an hour, without mentioning the loss of my friend, Mother Hildegarde, a few minutes ago.

“I don’t think so. I don’t know about her husband, but I’m sure Claire is fine. She is a strong woman. When you go through the loss of a child, you can go through everything.”

“I would… very much like to meet her. This Claire Fraser. Don’t you have any idea of where she might be? Does she come here often? On her child’s grave?”

“No, I’m sorry. I don’t think she and Jamie have ever been back here since... It is too painful you know. That’s why I’m here. I come to visit her every now and then, to tell her her parent did not forget her. As to where she might be, I do not know either. But you could try and send a letter to Lallybroch, their family lives there. This is where I would send the letters during our correspondance before Culloden. It is a mansion situated in the Scottish Highlands.”

“Thank you, thank you very much, Madame la Marquise,” I said, almost running out of the graveyard.

I ran home with the purpose of confronting my parents. I wanted to tell them that I knew everything. I wanted to scream, to yell at them, for them to see how their lies had ruined my life. Minutes later, I stormed into the family house to find the parlor empty.

“Mademoiselle! Are you alright?” my maid, Angèle, asked.

“Where are they? My parents, where are they?”

“They left with your suitor. They are currently having tea with him and his mother in his house. They won’t be back until later in the afternoon. What is wrong? You look… distraught.”

“I am. Believe me, Angèle, I am. But I cannot tell you why. It is too soon, I…” Feeling completely lost in my own home, I sat down on the closest armchair, my face in my hands. ‘What should I do?’ I thought. What could happen, if I told my parents that I knew everything? What if they kept me from going out of the house? What if they kept me here until I married that old man I do NOT want to marry? My “father” was ready to do anything to secure his illegal deals. I knew my wellbeing was less important that his getting richer. Keeping me here, locked in this house was something he was very likely to do. The risk was too high. Moreover, I had a desire for revenge. They had stolen me from my real mother who has thought she had lost me for twenty-five years. They deserved to lose me as well. I could not let them win. I got up and ran up to my bedroom, packed a few dresses and nightgowns and ran back down the stairs to find a completely bewildered Angèle.

“Mademoiselle, where are you going?” She asked, a worried look on her face. 

“I’m sorry, Angèle. I have to leave this place. I’ll send you a letter to explain everything, but can you please tell my parents that I’m leaving and certainly not coming back? Just tell them that I’m fine and that they don’t need to look for me. I will send them a letter that explains everything. Goodbye, Angèle. I’m going to miss you,” I said after quickly hugging her, before jumping in a carriage that would take me to Le Havre. On my way there, I could not help but thinking my life would never be the same from this moment on. Indeed, the purpose of most girls from this time was to get married and have children, but mine was quite different than this: my new goal was to ship on a boat to Scotland, and find my real parents.


	3. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Catherine/ Faith is travelling to Lallybroch, Claire, at Fraser's Ridge, reflects on her life there and her family, when an unexpected guest shows up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! This is the third chapter of Have Faith. As you may notice, this one is a bit different from the others. Written in Claire's point of view, it gives you an idea of something that is going to happen next... Because there are always things happening at the Ridge!!!   
> I hope you enjoy!   
> PS: Don't worry, Catherine/Faith is coming back in the next chapter!

FRASER’S RIDGE, NORTH CAROLINA

(Claire’s point of view)

Being an orphan at the age of five years old, I had quickly forgotten what growing up as a normal child, in a normal family, was. Of course, I had been raised by my Uncle Lamb, who had been very loving and understanding to me. He had taken me to archeological trips all over the world for the fourteen years I had spent under his custody. Then, I had gotten married at the very young age of nineteen and become Claire Randall. My husband Frank and I both wanted to have a family of our own, but we could not have children together. Moreover, we had been separated by war and once we were together again, I had accidentally gone through the standing stones of Craigh Na Dun and met Jamie. Once I had become Claire Fraser, I started to hope again for a family: a loving husband, children. Once again, my expectations could not be met and I could not raise my daughter with the man I loved. After twenty long years with my daughter, but in a loveless mariage, I came back to Jamie for a marriage of love… but without my daughter. However, when Brianna had joined me in the 18th century to inform me and Jamie of an upcoming tragedy, I was finally happy. I had built a life at Fraser’s Ridge with Jamie, and Brianna was there. Brianna and Roger had even welcomed a child of their own, along with Fergus and Marsali! I was now a grandmother, at the head of this wonderful family I had always wanted to have. Could it be more perfect?   
On this sunny day, I was sitting there, on the steps leading to the front door of the house I had built with Jamie, and our men, at Fraser’s Ridge. I couldn't help but thinking about how lucky I was to have this wonderful family around me, after everything we had gone through: rape, war, separation, death…   
But today was a special day for me. Every year on that fateful day, May 12th, I was thinking about my daughter. That was the only missing element of my family: my first daughter, Faith. More than twenty-five years before, I had tragically had a miscarriage in Paris, losing the baby Jamie and I had been dreaming of having for so long. A tear rolled down my eye and fell on Adso’s grey fur. Jamie had found this kitten in an alley in town and given it to me, and I loved to put him on my lap and stroke him for what seemed like hours. 

“Are ye going to stroke my cat all day, Sassenach?” Jamie said, jumping from his horse after a long morning of hunting with our son-in-law, Roger. 

“Your cat? Should I remind you that you gave it to me as a gift, James Fraser?” 

“No, you don’t need to, Mo Nigheann Donn,” he said, before reaching down to kiss me. I got up and followed my little family inside the house, where Brianna was trying to calm down wee Jemmy, who was crying very loudly. As Roger walked to her to try and help her, she stopped him. 

“No, Roger. As I told Mama, I want to do this alone. I’m his mother, I should be able to have him stop crying by myself, I don’t need any help.” 

Roger, Jamie and I watched her as she delicately rocked her son, singing song in a soft voice. The baby started to calm down, and stopped crying while his tiny eyes were slowly closing. She delicately put the baby in his cradle in the next room and came back with a huge smile on her face. 

“I did it!!!” she exclaimed, not too loudly to avoid walking up the child. 

“Congratulations, you’re the best. I love you,” said Roger, before planting a small kiss in his wife’s hair. 

A few minutes later, we all heard a knock on the door. I went to open it and was very surprised to find Lord John Grey on the threshold, accompanied by his son, Jamie’s son, Willie.   
“Lord John! What… what are you doing here?” I asked, trying to hide my surprise. Jamie came behind me with the same look on his face. I saw the guest’s eyes brighten at the view of my husband, which made me roll my eyes. I knew John’s feelings towards Jamie and he was not even discreet. 

“Mistress Fraser, Jamie… I came here with my son to ask an important favor of you.” 

“Sure, come in,” Jamie said. Once they were inside the house, Jamie bowed in front of the boy, while John Grey was warmly greeted by Brianna and Roger. 

“William, what a pleasure to have ye here in my house,” Jamie said, visibly very happy to see his son. 

“Thank you, Mr Fraser, for having me,” the boy replied with politeness. 

“As I said, we are here to ask a favor of you. I would gladly have sent a letter to warn you of our visit, but I did not have time, as everything got decided at the very last minute. I was asked to spend a few weeks in Boston, as it seems to be the birthplace of that rebellion taking place everywhere in the colonies. There has been more and more trouble there lately, that is why I was asked to go there. As it is… a rather dangerous place, I preferred not to take William with me.”

“But I told you, Father., I’m no longer a child. I’m a man now,” the boy said, looking annoyed. 

“And I told you that it was too dangerous for you, and that you would be safer here,” answered John. Then he turned towards Jamie and me. “Thus, I was wondering if you could look after William while I’m gone. I would totally understand if you were unable to do so, as I’ve learned your family has just gotten bigger, and that you, Jamie, have duties towards Governor Tryon. But your taking my son with you for these few weeks would be of great help.”

After exchanging a look with Jamie, I answered: “Of course, we would be happy to host him.” Jamie nodded and the young boy bowed in front of him. 

“Thank you very much, Mr Fraser. I appreciated staying at your home the last time I came, and I will again,” the young boy said. Jamie lowered himself to be at the boy’s level.   
“And I’m verra happy to have ye.” 

“Well, it’s settled then. I would gladly have stayed with you a little more, but my carriage awaits. I need to depart to Boston right now.” He hugged his son goodbye, looked at us (especially at Jamie), said goodbye to Brianna and Roger and left. Willie went towards them and bowed his head.

“Hello, Mistress, hello Sir; I do not think we have been introduced,” he said. Brianna smiled, a surprised look on her face. She surely did not express so much politeness from a teenage boy. 

“Hello, I’m Brianna MacKenzie Fraser. Claire and Jamie’s daughter. And this is my husband, Roger.” 

“Nice to meet you, buddy,” Roger said. 

“Buddy?” Willie asked, puzzled by Roger’s choice of words. 

“Never mind, welcome to Fraser’s ridge.” My son-in-law shook hands with Willie. 

“Come on, William, let me show you your room,” Jamie said, taking his son to another part of the house. 

“Mama, is this young boy…” Brianna, started to ask in a low voice, coming to me.

“Yes, he Jamie’s son. Your brother.” Brianna smiled, visibly happy to finally have a sibling. “But he doesn’t know about this. So please, be careful.”

“I will,” she said, before turning to Roger. “Come on, let’s go check on Jemmy.” 

They left the room and I sat down in an armchair, a contented smile on my face. For the first time ever, Jamie would have his two children at home with him. In the home we had built together. I truly felt happy for him. This was my dream of family life.


	4. Searching For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catherine/Faith arrives in Lallybroch... Will she find what she's looking for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to 'Have Faith', chapter 4!! I would like to thank all the people who left me feedback and encouraged me to post this story! Thank you so much guys for reading, I hope you like what's coming next!!

LALLYBROCH, SCOTLAND

I arrived at Lallybroch on a rainy day. My trip from France had fortunately been uneventful: I had found a shuttle that took me to Le Havre, where I bought passage to Scotland. Once in Scotland, I had found another carriage to take me to Lallybroch, near Inverness. When my carriage passed under the big stoned arch at the entrance of the estate, I suddenly felt nervous. This woman, Louise de Rohan, had told me Claire and Jamie Fraser, Faith’s parents, were from this estate, and that was where they had been when she had last heard of them. But unfortunately for me, that was only a few months after I was born. More than twenty years after, they could be living somewhere else, or worse, be dead. The chances of my meeting them there were very slim, but I had to try. I had to find them. They thought me dead. They had been spending the last twenty-five years thinking I was dead, this could not last. They had to know I existed. If they were dead, or if they were alive but did not want me, I would go back to France and consider marrying that suitor my “parents” had found me, but I had to try to find Claire and Jamie first.  
When I got out of the carriage. I saw a little girl playing on the front steps with a doll. I froze. Could this little girl be my little sister? Or the child of a sibling? I approached her.  
“Excuse me, little girl,” I started. She looked up at me with a suspicious look. 

“I can’t talk to strangers,” the little girl said with a strong Scottish accent. 

“I’m not a stranger. At least, I don’t think I am.” The door suddenly opened behind the little girl, and a small woman appeared on the threshold. 

“Who are ye, lass? And what are ye doing wi’ my granddaughter?” she asked.

“Are you… Are you Claire Fraser?” I asked, my heart beating faster than ever in my chest. This was it, and there was no turning back. 

“No, I’m Jenny Fraser Murray. I’m her husband’s sister. What do you want with the lass?”

“I… I was hoping I could… see her. It is very important… and I would like to see her husband as well. Are they here, by any chance?” 

“Well, if you had come a few years ago, they would have been here, but it is no longer the case. They are settled in the colonies, now.”

“In the colonies? Where?”

“Why do you need to see them, lass? Is there something wrong with my brother, or his family? Is it about my son who is with them?”

“Oh, no, don’t worry. I’m from Paris and… my friend, Mother Hildegarde, who was a good friend to Claire recently passed away. She wanted me to give a letter to Claire, personally.” I preferred to lie for now, even to the lady who seemed to be my aunt. I preferred to tell the news to my parents first. 

“Alright. I remember Claire mentioning her. She was the lady from the hospital, who delivered her poor child who was dead.”

“Y…yes.”

As I spoke, a man got out of the house as well. He seemed to be my aunt’s husband. 

“Hello, lass? May we help ye?”

“I’m looking for Claire and Jamie Fraser. Your wife said they were settled in the colonies.”

“Aye, they’re in America. The New World. They’re in the colony of North Carolina, in Fraser’s Ridge.”

“Thank you very much!” I bowed to thank them, before going back to my carriage. I had enough money to buy passage to the colonies, and I had to leave as soon as possible. 

“Wait a minute!” the man said. I turned around.

“Yes?”

“Why do ye want to see them? And why do ye look so much like Brianna?” 

“Brianna? Who is Brianna?” I asked, worried. 

“Their daughter. She came here several months ago exactly for the same reasons as yers. She was looking for them. And I immediately knew she was their daughter, because she looked very much like my brother-in-law. And ye do, too.”

“Aye, ye’re right, Ian. Who are ye, lass?” Jenny asked. 

I froze here, not knowing what to say. A tear escaping my eye, I decided to tell them everything. I told them I was Faith. I told them what the people who raised me had done, and that I was Claire and Jamie’s baby. For a second, I got scared that they wouldn’t believe me. But fortunately, they did. According to Jenny, I looked exactly like my grandmother, Ellen. And according to Ian, so did my sister, Brianna. For both of them, the resemblance was unmistakable. I was Claire and Jamie's daughter, their niece. They took me in a warm hug, and this brought more tears to my eyes. Jenny’s eyes were wet as well, as it made her remember Claire’s suffering when she and Jamie had come back to Lallybroch, and the tears she had shed when she had heard the bad news about the baby.

Seeing how tired I was, they objected to the idea of letting me go today. They insisted that I should spend a night here at Lallybroch.  
During most of the evening, they told me stories about Jamie’s childhood, and some about Claire too. They told me how Claire and Jamie had met, and summed up their lives to me. They told me that short after they came back from Paris, they had tried to keep the Jacobite raising from happening, and then had done everything they could to avoid the battle of Culloden, because Claire somehow knew Scotland would lose. But unfortunately it happened and Jamie had sent Claire away to protect her, because she was pregnant with my sister, Brianna. Both thinking the other had died, they had not seen each other for twenty years, until Claire came back to Jamie a few years ago. They had ended up in America after a shipwreck, when they were coming back to Scotland after having rescued Young Ian who had been abducted and taken to Jamaica. They had decided to settle in North Carolina, in an estate called Fraser’s Ridge. 

I was happy to know they were still alive, especially after all they had gone through. But on the other hand, I was disappointed not to have found them in Scotland. I had already gone on a very long trip to find them, only to be told I would have to make a trip that would be at least five times as long. I had never travelled outside of Europe, and here I was, about to take a trip across the Atlantic ocean to a continent I did not know, in a colony I had never been too, to find people I had never met. I did not even know what they looked like, despite the few descriptions given by Jenny and Ian: Jamie, my father, was a tall and strong man with red hair. My mother, Claire, was tall as well, with brown hair which were starting to grow grey the last time they had seen her. 

My newly-found relatives had insisted that I should stay with them at Lallybroch for the night, but I preferred to leave as soon as I could, meaning now. I was about to embark on a ship for several weeks, even months. I had to hurry. 

Jenny had still insisted to show me around the estate: after a quick visit of the mansion and an introduction to the family and the servants, she and Ian took me to the stables, showed me the fields and the animals of the estate and we ended our visit at the small cemetery behind the house. Her and Jamie’s parents – my grandparents– were buried there, as well as their brother, my uncle. She told me that Ellen, their mother, had died in childbirth, their brother Willie had died as a child from a disease, and their father, Brian, had passed away after seeing young Jamie being flogged by an English redcoat. Even if I had never met any of these people, I felt heartbroken hearing these stories. They were my family, my grandparents and my uncle. Jenny and Jamie must have had difficult lives, compared to mine. Even if I hated my parents for what they had done, I had led a happy life with them before I learned all of this. I had had a happy childhood. Theirs had been tarnished by the death of their mother and brother, and their father later. But they seemed happy now. Jenny was a happy mother and grandmother. And according to what she had told me, the same could be said about Jamie. He and Claire were finally reunited after twenty years apart, their daughter had joined them and she had just gotten married, from what they told me. She had even given them a grandson! They were happy now. That led me to wonder whether I should join them. My arrival at their home would surely disturb their happiness. They had been thinking I was dead for twenty-five years. But according to Jenny, Jamie and Claire had also thought each other dead for twenty years before they were reunited, and they were happy to find each other. Moreover, I had to go. I had not gone to Scotland for nothing. There was no turning back now.


	5. (Un)expected Encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is split in two parts: in the first part; Claire and Jamie shared a quiet moment together. In the second part, an (un)expected encounter takes place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is chapter 5 of 'Have Faith'! Thank you so much for reading my story and giving me feedback!

FRASER’S RIDGE, NORTH CAROLINA

***CLAIRE’S POINT OF VIEW***

On the evening of Willie’s arrival at the Ridge, I decided to go to bed, not knowing where Jamie was. ‘He must surely be drinking whiskey with his men!’ I thought. But when I came to our bedroom, I realized I was mistaken: Jamie was here, sitting on the bed, his face cradled in his hands. 

“Are you alright, my love?” I asked, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder before sitting down next to him. 

“Aye, Sassenach… It’s just… I always have the same feeling when I see Willie. He’s mine, but he doesn’t know that. And he probably never will.” 

“Oh, honey… I know it must be hard for you. But it does not keep you from spending quality time with him. He will be here with us for several weeks. You can still take him out on a hunt, like you did when he visited us for the first time. He might not know he’s your son but it is clear that he admires you like a son admires his father.”

“Ye think so?” he asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. 

“Yes, of course. And I’m sure it wouldn’t change much if he knew. Look at Brianna. I know the situations are different but when she found out that Frank was not her real father after all… she still loved him. She still admired him. She still considers him as her Daddy. I’m sure it would be the same with Willie.” 

“Aye, maybe ye’re right. I shouldn’t fash.” 

“Aye, dinna fash,” I said, trying to mimic his accent to make him smile. 

“Were ye trying to imitate me, Sassenach?” he asked, pretending to be shocked. 

“Yes, I’m good, am I not?”

“At impressions, not really. But there are plenty of other things ye’re excellent at,” he said, with a playful smile on his face. 

“Mmh, like what? Do you have an example?” I knew exactly what he was talking about. 

He drew me closer to him and started planting small kisses on my lips, on my earlobe, down my neck. He started to slowly undo the laces of my dress, kissing every inch of newly exposed skin. Fortunately, we did not have to look after our grandson, Jemmy, so we had the whole night for ourselves. He moaned into my mouth as I unfastened his belt and soon, our hands were all over our bodies. We made quiet and tender love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. 

On the morning, I woke up without Jamie in our bed, and hearing laughs outside the house. I quickly dressed up and went out to find Jamie and his son outside the house, mounting horses. 

“Where are you boys going?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Ah, Sassenach, ye’re up! I’m takin’ Willie – William, to take a wee tour of the property, to show him how much it has changed since the last time he’s visited us.” Jamie said, smiling at his son. One could guess they were father and son without even knowing them, just by the look on Jamie’s face when the young boy was around. Seeing them together like that made my heart lighter. He always had that look around his children, as much with Willie as with Brianna. It made me sad at the same time: out of the three children Jamie had had, he had not been able to raise any of them. Despite that, he was a great father. But he needed to be more discreet, Willie was not supposed to know about the fact that Jamie was much more than who he thought he was. Jamie and I wished he knew, but it would make things too complicated. 

I watched my husband and his son riding down the path that led to our house into the forest, when Fergus came to me. “Bonjour, Milady. Where is Milord going?” 

“Hello, Fergus. He’s going to show John Grey’s son around.”

“Is the boy… his son? Marsali and I weren’t there when he came for the first time.”

“Yes, he is. Can you tell?” 

“Aye, I think everyone could tell. They look a lot like each other.” 

“Yes, they do. But the boy doesn’t know, so you will have to keep it quiet for now.” Fergus nodded. “Did you need me for something?”

“I… just have some bad news to tell you… I mean… they are good news for Marsali but I don’t think you will like it, Milady.” 

“What’s going on, Fergus?” I said, crossing my arms once again. I hadn’t heard the news yet, but I did not like it. At all.

“Marsali has just received a letter from… her mother. She’s coming from Scotland to Fraser’s Ridge, to visit us and finally meet me and the children. She wants to see Milord as well, to ask him for some money.”

“What? Laoghaire is coming? What if I don’t want her at Fraser’s Ridge? I don’t want her anywhere around me, Jamie, or my daughter. She tried to have us both killed, and she shot Jamie and…” 

“I know, Milady. Don’t worry, she will not stay with us at Fraser’s ridge. She will stay at Wilmington. She will be there in four weeks.”

“Okay, Fergus, thanks for telling me,” I said, before going back inside the house. That was far from being a good piece of news. Whenever that woman was around me, bad things tended to happen. I hoped I would not see her. 

***************************************************************

WILMINGTON, SEVERAL WEEKS LATER  
***CATHERINE'S POINT OF VIEW***

Weeks after I left Scotland and decided to pursue my mission, I got off the ship at Wilmington, North Carolina. I was happy to have gotten there, but I was scared as well. I had never travelled that far alone. I had not even travelled without my “parents”. Here and now, I was completely alone. There was no turning back, I was in America and I did not know if I was ever to see France again. But I had a mission to accomplish, an oath to fulfill. My real parents had grieved me for twenty-five years, without knowing that I had been alive all that time. I could not let them suffer one more day. Other things scared me: how was I going to find them? And once I had found them, how was I going to tell them who I was? What if they had forgotten me? What if they did not want to know me? What if they did not believe me? I had Mother Hildegarde’s letter to prove I was telling the truth, but still…   
I tried to shake these negative thoughts off my mind, and focus on my mission. I rapidly found a coach to take me to Fraser’s Ridge, and thankfully, it was not too far.  
About two hours into the journey, we heard a noise and the carriage almost flipped over, and we had to stop in the middle of the forest.  
“What is going on???” I yelled at the man who was driving. 

“It’s nothin’, Mistress. The wheel broke. I’ll have to repair that.”

“And how long is it going to take?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to take it back to town.”

I grew more scared than I already was. Alone with that man in the Carolina wilderness. What if we were attacked by highwaymen? Or by some big animal?

As I was thinking about whether or not I would die there, I heard two horses approaching us. It was a man and a young boy who looked a lot like him, probably his son.   
“Hello, can we do somethin’ to help ye Sir? Mistress,” the man said, removing his hat when he saw me. He had a very strong Scottish accent, like my family I had met in Scotland. 

“It appears their wheel is broken.” the lad said, in a much different accent: he was clearly English. Maybe they were not father and son after all? 

“Aye, I’m transporting this lady to a place called “Fraser’s Ridge.” But it’s still an hour away, and I can’t transport her with my wheel broken. I’ll try to repair it here, but it might take hours,” my driver said. 

“Are ye goin’ to Fraser’s Ridge, lass? That’s my estate, I’m Jamie Fraser. Do ye ken someone there?” he asked. 

Jesus Christ. I heard that right. This man was Jamie Fraser. Claire Fraser’s husband. My father. My *real* father. I was talking to my father! The man I had been looking for for months, the man I had crossed an ocean to meet! At a loss for words, I decided not to tell him right away who I was. I preferred Claire to be there as well. I was too shocked to say anything at this moment. 

“Are ye alright, lass?” 

“Y- yes, I am. M-my name is… F… Catherine.Catherine Delatour. I’m going to Fraser’s Ridge to… to visit relatives.”

“Ah, who are they? I’m the laird of this estate, I surely ken them!” 

“I… I…” I stammered, not knowing what to answer. 

“Ye look tired, lass. Come wi’ us to Fraser’s Ridge. We’ll let ye sleep in the Big House. I’m sure my wife won’t mind. Come, get on Willie’s horse, behind him? Ye look a lot my daughter, Brianna. Ye have the same ginger hair and slanted eyes. Ye do look like a Fraser!” He said, not very seriously. Little did he know… 

We rode to the Ridge for an hour, talking about our lives. I told him about my childhood in France, and learned that the young boy sitting before me had had a very educational childhood as well. Jamie told me that he had fought in the battle of Culloden and that he was now working with the English Army because a governor gave him land. He told me about his wife – my mother – Claire, and told me she was a physician and was curing the people living on the Ridge. So she was still a doctor, after all these years, after helping Mother Hildegarde at the Hôpital des Anges. I was so proud of my mother. Women were entitled to very few opportunities and it appeared Claire had the job she wanted to have. Jamie also told me about their daughter, Brianna, who had just had a baby. I had almost wanted to ask him if they had other children, but I was afraid of his answer. What if…   
Just as I was trying to shake off negative thoughts again, we arrived at the top of a hill, and saw a big yellow house with settlers working all around it.

“This is it! Welcome to Fraser’s Ridge, Catherine!” Jamie said, before riding down the slope with his horse. The young boy on my horse followed him and we came on the small path that led to the house. After we got off our horses, men took them to the stables, while Jamie led both I and the young boy to the house. As we were climbing the few stairs leading to the main door, a woman opened the door and stepped out on the porch, smiling. She was very tall, thin, black-haired and had deep blue eyes and a very white skin.   
“Hello, you’re right there for lunch!” She exclaimed, without seeing me at first. The large figure of Jamie could hide me from anyone. 

“Hello, Sassenach! I’m verra hungry, canna wait to have a taste of yer fine cookin’,” Jamie said, before kissing the woman on the mouth. That was where it struck me. If this woman was Jamie’s wife, then it meant… 

“Hello, who are you?” she asked me, smiling again. Jamie stepped on his left side so that his wife could see me better. Unable either to reply, or to realize exactly where I was and with whom, and also exhausted from the long travel, I felt my legs give in under my weight. I closed my eyes and felt as if the world was spinning around me faster that it was supposed to.


	6. Truth Be Told

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It takes a lot of courage to tell the truth... especially when the truth changes people's lives. Will our heroine find this courage?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!! I know I write this every time in chapter notes, but I'll do it once again: Thank you all for your comments!! Seeing how much you like the story and wait for the next chapters makes me so happy! 
> 
> This chapter is longer than the others, but you'll rapidly know why... I hope you like it!! 
> 
> PS: There are a few lines in French in this chapter, in Fergus and Catherine's short conversation. For those who can't read French, here is the translation: "So, I heard you were French?" "Yes, I come from Paris. What about you?" "I come from Paris as well. My name is Fergus, and here is my wife, Marsali." "Glad to meet you".

I woke up on a bed in some kind of surgery room. I no longer felt dizzy, but I did not remember what had just happened, nor where I was. 

“Ah, she’s waking up,” a woman’s voice with an English accent said. Then I saw her face upon mine, and recognized Claire’s. 

“What… what happened? Where am I?” I stammered. 

“You’re in Fraser’s Ridge. And you fainted, just after you arrived with my husband, who found you in the forest. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, I’m a healer.” 

“Oh, yes, I remember now,” I said, trying to gather my thoughts. I was in Fraser’s Ridge, in America, and I had just met my real parents. ‘I must have fainted because I was too shocked,’ I thought. “Sorry for the disturbance, I should never have come,” I said, before trying to get up from the bed. Claire put a gentle hand on my shoulder to have me lie back down. 

“No, no, don’t try and get up now. You should drink this,” she advised, handing a cup of a strange brewery. “It is a decoction of special plants that will give you some energy.” I slowly took a sip, and surprisingly found out that the taste was not as bad as I thought it would be. “Do you happen to have a disease that may have made you collapse? Does it happen often?” she asked, taking my face between both her hand to look into my eyes. 

“No, I don’t think it has ever happened to me. Not anything I can remember anyway.” 

“The lass has made a long travel from what she told me before we got here,” Jamie said, coming behind his wife. 

“Then, it is because you’re tired. You don’t have to worry about this. You’ll feel much better in a few hours.” 

“Thank you very much…” 

“Claire. Claire Fraser.” 

“Catherine Delatour.” 

“Are you French?” she asked. 

“Yes, I come from Paris,” I replied, shyly, wondering what I should tell them, when and how. 

“Jamie and I spent about a year in Paris a long time ago. But…” she turned to her husband, before turning back to me. “… we suffered… a lot there, so we decided to go back to Scotland… But we are here now, and we’re happy. Jamie told me you were coming to the Ridge to visit some relatives?” 

“Y… yes, but… It’s a long story, and I’m feeling tired. I would like to go to bed now, if it is alright.” 

“Of course, it is alright. Come with me, I’ll take you to a guest chamber for you to lie down for a bit. Then you’ll tell me who your family is and we’ll take you to them.” She took me by the waist to help me get off the bed and took me to the next room where a bed was set. I kindly thanked her and she closed the door behind her.   
I was extremely tired, but I could not sleep. I had to tell them who I really was, but how? How do you tell people who have been grieving their child for twenty-five years that their child is actually alive and that *you* are this child? I had come to their home uninvited, and was about to shatter their lives and break them into a thousand pieces. Would they even believe me, let alone forgive me? Nothing was less sure. But I had to do this. I decided to lie down on the bed to think about how I was going to proceed, but my exhaustion took over me and I could not help but close my eyes and slowly drift into sleep. 

I was woken up a few hours later by a gentle hand on my arm and a sweet, English voice:   
“Catherine? Dinner is ready, if you want to come. I would have let you sleep longer, but as you fainted, you need to eat.”

“Claire? Yes, I’ll be right there, thank you.” I slowly got up from the bed and still felt very tired. How many hours had I slept?? 

When I arrived in the dining room of the house, everyone was there, seemingly waiting for me. Claire was serving a dish to her husband. Next to Jamie was seated the boy I had rode here with, and in front of him a ginger-haired girl who looked a lot like me. Probably their other daughter, my sister… At the table were another man who was probably her husband, and another couple I did not know.   
“Catherine!” exclaimed Jamie, before indicating an empty chair. “Come sit wi’us, there’s a chair just for ye next to Brianna.” I sat down shyly next to her, without daring to say anything. 

“Alors comme ça, tu es française?” the man I did not know asked. He sounded as French as I was. 

“Oui, je viens de Paris. Et vous?” I politely asked. 

“Moi aussi je viens de Paris. Je m’appelle Fergus, et voici ma femme, Marsali.” he said, designating the blond girl sitting next to him. 

“Enchantée,” I answered. 

“Fergus is our adoptive son,” Jamie explained. “We found him in Paris, he had no family. He kindly helped us steal some letters and we took him back to Scotland wi’us. And Marsali is my… ex-wife’s daughter. That’s a… rather long story. As for the beautiful ginger lass next to you, she’s Brianna, our daughter,” he said, looking at his daughter lovingly. “And this is Roger, her husband.”

“I’m very happy to make your acquaintances.” 

“So, what brings you here at Fraser’s Ridge?” Brianna asked. “My father said you were here to meet with relatives?”

“I… It’s a long story, and I don’t… I don’t really feel like talking about it now…” I said, hoping I would not sound to suspect. There were too many people, and I preferred to have Jamie and Claire alone to drop this bomb. 

“We understand. You can tell us later if you want. But if there is a problem, feel sure that you can tell us anything you want,” Claire said. 

“Are yer relatives from the Ridge? If there’s anythin’ wrong with one of my men, lass, you should tell me.” 

“Jamie, she said she did not want to talk about it now,” Claire whispered.

“It’s alright… It’s just… I recently learned I was… someone’s daughter, and I don’t know how to tell them.” I wanted to kill myself after saying these words. I had said too much, too soon. Brianna put a hand on mine. 

“Don’t worry, it will be alright. I don’t know about your experience, and mine was probably different but I also learned that my father was not who I thought he was when I was twenty years old. And when I told Jamie I was his daughter… We were so happy. It takes a lot of courage, but when you do it, you feel free.” 

“Aye, I didna think I would meet my wee lass one day, and yet here we are, all reunited. Ye’ll be fine. Ye just have to find the right time.” 

“Thank you all for your advice.” A few minutes later, I finished my plate and excused myself to go to bed. 

The next morning, I got up with an aching pain in my belly. I had to tell them TODAY, I could not wait any longer. As much as I wanted to wait, I could not. It was not right. They surely had noticed something was wrong, as I did not want to tell them who my relatives at the Ridge were. I slowly walked to the living room and stopped at the door, unsure of whether I should continue. Claire and Jamie were seated on a sofa, with a baby that I supposed was their grandson. The baby was on Jamie’s lap, and Claire was feeding him, putting small spoonfuls of food in his tiny mouth. “Yes, that’s great, baby boy!” Claire said in the middle of the baby’s giggles. Jamie was smiling at both of them. A thought thus came into my mind: I couldn’t help but imagining them like this… with me. How they would have fought over whether my first word would be “daddy” or “mommy”. How they would have cried with joy when I took my very first step. How they would have told me stories every night so I could get to sleep. How Jamie would have taught me how to ride a horse. The birthdays, the Christmases we would have celebrated together. I did not notice the tears that had started escaping my eyes, and could not hold a sniffle. Claire heard it, turned towards me, and saw me standing near the door, watching them.

“Oh, Catherine, I did not see you there.” Then she noticed I was crying. “Catherine, what’s wrong?” She asked, almost running towards me. 

“Nothing, I-I’m fine. Don’t worry.” 

“No, you’re not fine. Yesterday you fainted, then you slept during the whole afternoon and now you’re crying. If you don’t tell us what is wrong, we won’t be able to help you. Is this about what you told us yesterday? That you are someone’s daughter and they don’t know?” I nodded, and Claire led me to the armchair and sat back down next to Jamie and the baby, who was now fast asleep. Jamie got up to put him down in his crib and settled back next to his wife. 

“Dinna fash, lass. We’re not here to judge ye,” Jamie said. 

“You’re right, I have to tell you. But once I tell you this, there will be no turning back.”

“You can trust us,” Claire said, taking my trembling hand in hers.

“The relatives… whom I needed to see… are… you.” I looked at my feet, to scared to see their reaction. 

“What exactly do you mean?” Claire asked, slowly removing her hand from mine before exchanging a puzzled look with her husband. 

“I- I am your- daughter.”

“What? We have two daughters, one is here wi’ us at Fraser’s Ridge, and the other was a still-born. What kind of thing is that to say, lass? Ye must be mistaken.”

“I know it sounds preposterous, but… it’s true. I was born on May 12th, 1744, in Paris and…” 

“No,” Claire said, interrupting me. “I’m sure you were not the only baby born in Paris on that day. OUR baby died at birth. I had a miscarriage, and I held my baby in my arms, and she was dead. It is… cruel to say you’re her and to bring back such painful memories.” Claire said, a tear rolling down her pale cheek. Jamie squeezed her hand in his and turned to me, looking shocked by what I had said. 

“Why would ye think that, lass?” He asked, trying to control his feelings. “Ye wouldna drop this on us without a reason.” 

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to do this to you… it’s just… A few weeks ago, a very close friend of mine passed away after a long illness. You know that friend, she was Mother Hildegarde, from l’Hôpital des Anges.” Claire looked back at me, seemingly wanting to hear more. “She sent a letter to my house to ask me to visit her on her deathbed. I thought it was because I had considered her as my grandmother when I was a child and we were close ever since… Instead she told me this…” I took the letter Mother Hildegarde had written for me out of the pocket of my dress and handed it to Claire. She took it with a trembling hand and read it with Jamie, in deadly silence.   
“Jesus H Roosevelt Christ…” she whispered once she had read the letter. 

“Are we… sure that she did write this?” Jamie asked, still not believing what he had just read.

“It’s her handwriting, I remember it. It is her signature, and the seal is that of the Hôpital des Anges. It is authentic,” Claire declared. 

“So you believe me, then?” I felt the tears escaping my eyes once again.

“It… makes sense, and… you do look a lot like Brianna.” Claire observed, still as marble.

“I’m sorry… to have shattered your world like that. I guess I should go back to France, I should never have come.” I got up from my seat and started to go away, when Claire took my hand, shortly followed by Jamie. 

“Please stay,” Claire said, more tears rolling down her cheeks. 

“Aye, we don’t want ye to go. Ye’re family. OUR family.” Jamie was crying as well, and I could not hold my own tears. Claire released my hand and drew me into a hug.   
“Faith… my baby…” Then, she drew back and took my face in her both hands. “Yes, you’re my baby…” 

“Aye, she has the Fraser hair… and the Fraser eyes.”Jamie said, still crying. 

“What’s going on in here?” I turned around and saw Brianna standing at the door. She was probably coming to get her son and found the three of us hugging and crying. 

“Bree…” Claire started, but she was interrupted by her husband. 

“Brianna, let us introduce ye… to yer sister. Faith.”

“What?” Brianna asked, with an incredulous look on her face. 

“Do you remember, honey? Back in Boston, when I told you everything about Jamie, about my life with him before we parted… I told you about the miscarriage I had in Paris. Well, it happens that the baby, our baby, wasn’t dead. There she is. Catherine is Faith. Look at this.” Brianna’s eyes wandered rapidly over the page, and she still looked as incredulous as before. She brushed past her mother to come to me. 

“How dare you… Take advantage of what my parents endured to take advantage of their hospitality… They lost their child and you pretend to be this child… what for? Why are you doing this?” I did not even have enough strength to defend myself. 

“Bree, she’s not pretending! Yer Ma says she recognizes Mother Hildegarde’s writing, signature and seal. She says the letter is authentic. Plus… Don’t ye see how much ye two are alike? Ye truly look like sisters. Because ye are, ye cannot deny the obvious.”

“Yes, Bree. I did not want to believe it at first, but… I can assure you Mother Hildegarde wrote this. And Jamie’s right. You look like each other. I can see Jamie in her as much as I see him in you,” Claire said, taking Brianna’s face between her hands. I finally found the ability to move and speak. I walked closer to her. 

“Listen, Brianna. I know it sounds crazy, but I can assure you it’s true. Why would I lie? Why would I cross an ocean to find them? To find you? It’s hard to believe, even for me. Knowing my parents, or at least, the people who raised me, I can assure you this is something they could easily have done. They are ready to do literally anything to get what they want. They are monsters, I’ve hated them even before knowing this, since I was a child. They have stolen and killed their way to the top. When I learned the truth, I was shocked, but relieved as well. That my real parents are not them.”

“I wish we could take blood tests for you to believe her Bree. But we can’t, so we’ll have to trust her. You’ll have to trust us, and Mother Hildegarde. I knew her, she was my friend. I know she was not lying when she wrote this.” It was my turn to give her a puzzled look. ‘Blood tests?’ What is she talking about? Jamie seemed puzzled as well. 

“You’re right, I… I’m sorry, Catherine. That… that’s a lot to take in. Excuse me, I have to take care of my baby.” Still looking shocked, she walked to her son’s crib and took him in her arms, before leaving the room. 

“Don’t worry, Catherine. She has her temper, but she will come back. She’s a Fraser.” Claire said, smiling through her tears.

“Sassenach, what is that supposed to mean?” They both laughed, and Jamie came to me. “Dinna fash. Wi’out any proof, I can easily prove ye’re ours. I didna think I would live long enough to see this day. Ye can stay wi’ us at the Ridge. Ye’re family, our wee lass.”

“I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to impose…” 

“Who’s imposing here? Your father told you you could stay here as long as you wish. You’re at home.” Claire said, putting a gentle hand on my arm, while her other hand was in Jamie’s. For the first time in my life, I felt loved. I felt at home.


	7. Taken Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While our heroine is finally settling down at the Ridge, the arrival of an enemy of the family will inevitably lead to more secrets being revealed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, fellow readers! This is chapter 7 of Have Faith!   
> Once again, thank you so much for all the positive and encouraging comments you leave under every chapter of this story. And thank you for the kudos as well! I'm glad to see you like it!

The days at Fraser’s Ridge rapidly turned into weeks and I loved everyday I spent there. The people had taken the news of my being Jamie and Claire’s daughter quite well. Even their adoptive son, Fergus, and his wife Marsali, were delighted about this. As for Brianna who had seemed a bit reluctant about my entering the family, she had finally started to accept my presence. We even found out we had similar tastes in literature. There was one thing bothering me though: my parents and my sister, even her husband, seemed to know something they were not telling me. Fergus and Marsali did not seem to know either. I guessed it was not about me: Claire seemed quite evasive on the twenty years she had spent in Boston, and so was Bree… But I decided not to think about it too much, as I was truly happy there. 

During these weeks, I spent a lot of time with Claire and Jamie, especially Claire because Jamie was often away to accomplish his duties as Colonel. I helped Claire at the surgery along with Marsali. She would often tell me stories, of the day she met Jamie or why they got married in the first place, how they had come to be here in America… While Marsali was taking a break one day, Claire told about her mother, Laoghaire, and how she had tried to have her killed in a witchcraft trial because she was jealous of her marriage with Jamie. She also told me she was visiting Marsali to meet her children and Fergus, and to be careful about her. 

One day, Brianna offered me to accompany her on a walk around the Ridge, while Roger was away with our Da, because she never walked in the woods alone. After some time at the Ridge, I learned that she had been violated by a man named Stephen Bonnet and that the baby could be his. That was why she did not want to go anywhere alone, and I was happy to walk with her so that we would get to know each other a bit more. Even Willie, our brother who still did not know he was our brother, was coming with us to take a walk around the Ridge.  
We had walked for about half an hour while doing small talk when I realized I had not properly apologized to Brianna for coming into their lives so abruptly.

“Listen, Brianna, I’m sorry. For all of this. I know it must not have been easy for you to find out that you have a new sister.” 

“Don’t worry. I have to apologize as well. I did not behave like I should have behaved when I learned the news. You must have thought me very rude.”

“No, I understand… I-”

“Well, well, well…” A woman’s voice with a strong Scottish accent prevented me from finishing my sentence. “Am I dreaming or do these faces look familiar?” A small and plum blonde woman walked towards us, holding two pistols, one in each hand. 

“You…” Brianna started. “You’re the crazy woman who held me hostage in Scotland and who tried to have my mother killed!” Brianna exclaimed. 

“My name is Laoghaire, I would have thought ye remembered my name after all the insulting things yer witch mother must have said about me!” 

“What do you want with us, Mistress?” Willie asked. 

“Who is this lad? Och, it’s the wee bastard Jamie had in Helwater! Aye, I recognize ye, ye have the same eyes as yer father!” she exclaimed. I noticed Brianna was trying to fight against her rage and so was I. 

“I’m sorry, Mistress, but allow me to say you are mistaken. I am none but the son of Governor Lord John Grey,” the young boy said, keeping all his composure in front of the pistols while I was scared. 

“Aye, sure, there didna tell you the truth. How very typical of the Frasers. I prefer to trust my men, who investigated at Helwater for me," she said on a sarcastic tone before turning towards me, “And who might that be? Another child of Jamie’s? The lad’s been pretty busy all these years. Ye do look a lot like the other lass, is yer mother the witch as well?” 

“Claire is not a witch!” I said, thinking back about the stories I had been told ever since I had arrived at the Ridge. After all, I had only known Claire and Jamie for two months and my real mother did have impressive skills when healing people. 

“She *is* a witch, and it means her daughters are as well.” Then she turned to Willie. “Ye’re a lucky lad, yer mother was just a young trollop, not the Sassenach witch. But ye are Jamie’s son, so yer still part of that shitty family. It means ye’ll have to come with us.” 

“My parents are Lord John Grey and Lady Isobel from Helwater. And I do not want to go anywhere with you, Mistress. Now if you’ll excuse me, I will retire to my lodgings.” Willie started to turn around when he was blocked my a man whom we did not even hear arriving. Two other men were behind us, which made it impossible to escape. We had to follow them, or at least, let them take us. 

“Now come with me ye wee brats.” The men pushed us towards a covered carriage and forced us to get in. The horses started moving and soon went in a quickening pace. 

“What do they want from us?” I murmured to Brianna. 

“I don’t know-” she started. But she was soon cut by Laoghaire’s creepy voice.

“Shut the hell up or I’ll shoot ye!”

The carriage stopped and we were led into a dark building, down to a basement. While Laoghaire was threatening us with her gun, the men put handcuffs around our wrists and forced us to sit. 

“If ye try to move or to escape, I’ll shoot ye. But I doubt ye can go anywhere,” she said, with an awfully sarcastic smile, before living the room, surely to think more calmly about the best way to torture us. 

We were thus left alone in the dark basement, unable to move.   
“Who is she, and why did she capture us? What have we done?” Willie asked.

“She is Laoghaire McKimmie. She captured us because she must have an evil plan to get a revenge from Jamie and Claire. She hates them, especially my mother.” She turned to me and corrected herself. “*Our* mother. She even tried to have her killed twenty-five years ago in a witch trial because she was jealous she married Jamie.” 

“This woman is mad…” Willie said, and Bree and I nodded. “But… why would she capture me? I was just walking with you, I’m not Claire’s son. Nor Jamie’s.” Brianna and I exchanged a puzzled look and nodded to each other. Claire and Jamie had told us that Willie did not know about his true parentage, and having both experienced this, we decided it was high time he knew. Laoghaire had already told him who his real father was, and if we did not tell him he was going to ask questions anyway.

“I’m sorry, Willie, but… she said the truth. You are Jamie’s son. Claire and Jamie and were separated for twenty years because of the battle of Culloden and during this time, they both thought the other was dead. When he was in Helwater, Jamie met the Dunsany sisters, Isobel and Geneva. The latter… threatened Jamie so that he would… bed her. And then she got pregnant and died when giving birth to you. Jamie could not claim you as his son because he was not married to your mother and he did not have her rank. Isobel and Lord John, who were to be married, decided to adopt you. Jamie accepted, because he had no other choice and because he knew that you would get a better life with them than with him. They never told you about this because they only wanted to protect you.” Brianna explained in a gentle voice. 

“No… it cannot be true…” Willie said. 

“I'm sorry but it is… I know you must be shocked, I know what it’s like. I only found out Jamie was my father a few years ago, when I was living in Boston with my mother. I had been raised by another man because she thought Jamie had died at Culloden. I was very angry but I soon realized it wasn’t their fault and that they both loved me very much.” 

“I had the same experience,” I said. “I learned Jamie and Claire were my real parents only a few months ago, that’s why I’m here. I’m the child they thought they had lost. But now I know they love me, they love Brianna, and they love you, Willie.”

“And Lord John loves you as well. Just as my Daddy, Frank, loved me, like his own daughter,” Brianna said. “I know it isn’t easy to learn you’ve been lied to all your life. But you have to know it was to protect you. Lord John is still your father, no matter what.”   
“If what you say is true, I’ll need to have a word with both of them when we get out of here. If we do get out.”


	8. I'll Do Anything For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Fraser children go missing, will their parents be able to find them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is chapter 8 of Have Faith! Thank you so much for the kudos and the nice comments!

*CLAIRE'S POINT OF VIEW"

“Jamie, my love?” I called, entering the Big House. 

“In the kitchen, Sassenach!” I followed his voice into the kitchen and found him playing with our grandson. 

“You two are adorable!” I came closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I would have loved to see you like that with our girls…”

“Aye, I’m pretty good at this!” He planted a small kiss on my lips and I took a step back to have a better view. 

“Have you seen Brianna and Catherine? They were supposed to come with me, to collect some herbs for the surgery. Any idea where they might be?”

“I dinna ken, Sassenach. I saw them leaving with Willie to go for a wee walk around the estate, but that was more than two hours ago.”

“Brianna never leaves Jemmy that long. This isn’t normal,” I said, a knot forming in my stomach.

“Aye, ye’re right, Sassenach. But it too early to worry. Maybe they decided to take a longer walk than usual. Maybe they’ll be back verra soon. Dinna fash.” 

“Yes, you’re right. It’s probably nothing.”

But an hour later, seeing our children had still not been back from their walk, Jamie and I started to worry. We searched all around the Ridge, asked everyone where they might be… no one could help. Except Marsali. When I saw her, something struck me. Fergus had mentioned a few weeks ago the arrival of Laoghaire, to visit them and meet her grandchildren. If one person hated Jamie and I enough to do something to our children, it was her. She had never accepted the fact that I had come back into Jamie’s life after these twenty years. In fact, she had *never* accepted our marriage in the first place and had spent her whole life hating me for it. 

“Are ye sure, Sassenach? Laoghaire has… issues but do ye think she would kidnap Willie and the girls because she’s been hating ye for the past twenty-five years?” Jamie asked me a few minutes later, after I told him about my suspicions. 

“Who else, Jamie? Who else hates us enough to do such a thing? And remember, Brianna told us Laoghaire tried to keep her in her house and have her killed when she learned she was our daughter.”

“But why would she take Willie and Catherine? Barely anyone knows about Willie, and Catherine… we’ve only learned she was our daughter a few weeks ago. Why would she take them as well?”

“I don’t know, Jamie, but she’s our only lead right now. And I don’t know *WHO* would do such a thing except her. We have to look for her.”

“Aye ye’re right. Oh, Marsali?” Jamie shouted after seeing her exiting my surgery at the back of the Big House. 

“Aye, Da? What's wrong?” she asked, seemingly unaware of the situation. We decided not to tell her about our children who had gone missing, not to worry her about her mother.

“Yer mother. Where is she stayin’?” Jamie said, unable to hide his worried expression from his face.

“She’s staying in an inn in Wilmington… Why, do ye want to visit her or somethin’? With ye, Claire? I thought ye two were not fond of each other?”

“It’s a long story, Marsali. I’ll need you to take care of the surgery while we’re gone. Lizzie is taking care of Jemmy, as Roger is still on a mission with the militia. Can you tell us where this inn is?”

The next day, we arrived at the inn Marsali indicated. We rushed into the building and asked for Laoghaire McKimmie. Unfortunately for us, the lady taking care of the inn told us she had no customer of that name. 

“Try Laoghaire Fraser,” Jamie said. I knew that expression of disgust on my face was everything but discreet. Hearing her name next to his, ours, made me want to throw up. 

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t have anyone answering to these names.”

“Jesus Christ, where is she? Why would Marsali lie to us? It’s not like her,” I said, puzzled and panicked at the same time. 

“Aye it isn’t like her, and she didna lie. The lass has been fooled by her mother. Just like she fooled her into hatin’ ye in the first place, Sassenach.” I nodded.

“But what do we do now?”

“Come,” Jamie said, wrapping an arm around my waist as we exited the inn. “We’re goin’ to go to a tavern. Someone might know where she is, and where she took our children.” I nodded again and felt Jamie’s arm before me, stopping me as I was walking. “Sassenach, look!” I looked towards the direction his finger was showing. Here she was. Laoghaire was crossing the street in the direction of an old house that was falling into ruins. Jamie and I hid behind a carriage and saw her look around her, making sure she wasn’t seen. 

“Stay here, Sassenach. I’ll see what she’s doing in there.” He started to walk towards the house but I stopped him by taking his arm. 

“No, Jamie. I’m coming with you, whether you like it or not. The girls are my children too.”

“Okay, but be careful.”

Jamie looked through the broken windows of the ruined house. When he saw no movement inside, he made a gesture indicating me to follow him and we entered this gloomy house. The inside of the house looked exactly like the outside: ramshackle, in ruins. Thick dirt was covering the floor and the few old pieces of furniture were hidden under white sheets. An old mantlepiece in which no fire had been lit for a long time was taking a big part of the wall and spider webs could be seen everywhere. A stale smell was everywhere in the room and the wooden floor cracked at each step we were taking, even though we were trying to be discreet. 

“I wasn’t expecting ye so soon. How did ye find me?”

Startled by this familiar voice, Jamie and I turned around to find Laoghaire pointing a gun at us. 

“Laoghaire, put that gun down, and give us back our children. Now.” Jamie said in a threatening tone. 

“Of course, darlin'. Gimme the money ye owe me, leave yer witch to come back to Scotland wi’ me and yer children will be safe.”

“No, Laoghaire, none of this is going' to happen. I’m not goin’ back to Scotland with ye, and as for the money I payed ye back every pound I owed ye. Did ye never receive it?”

“Aye, I did. But all the money in the world could never be enough to help me recover what I went through because of that Sassenach witch.” She pronounced the two last words by looking at me with a look that clearly showed she wanted me dead. 

“Laoghaire, I know it must have been hard to see me again after all these years, and especially to see Jamie leave you for me, but need I remind you you tried to have me killed? That you pointed a gun at me at Lallybroch? That you actually shot Jamie? This isn’t a competition, Laoghaire, but it’s clear what YOU have done to me is far worse than what I did to you.”

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear yer voice! All I want is for MY husband to come back to Scotland wi’ me. Ye can stay here for all I care, but we’re goin’ back!!” Before Jamie could utter a word, I stepped before him to reply more directly, trying to ignore the gun that was pointed at me. 

“Sassenach… be careful,” I heard Jamie whisper in my ear as I brushed past him. 

“Please, Laoghaire. Show some common sense. If you put that gun down now, we’ll help you sail back to Scotland, and we won’t tell anybody. But if you don’t, or if you shoot us, you will go to prison. Is that what you really want? Do you really want Joan to live without her mother?”

“Dinna speak o’ my daughter!”

“We both know I’m not leaving the Ridge to come back with ye. We wouldn’t be happy together. Ye ken we weren’t before Claire went back. And ye ken she didna force me to go back with her. Ye ken she’s the one I love, and that I even loved her before I had to marry her. Ye’d better put that gun down, Laoghaire. And tell us where the children are.” 

“I won’t. Ye’re gonna die, like ye deserve,” she said, her trembling finger dangerously approaching the trigger. 

“Ma, don’t!!” Marsali’s voice got the three of us to jump. She walked slowly into the room, not approaching her mother too quickly. 

“Marsali, what are ye doing here?” Laoghaire asked. 

“I kent somethin’ was wrong. They told me to stay at the Ridge but I kent somethin’ bad had happened when they asked me where ye were stayin’. So I followed them. And here ye are, pointing a gun at them! Why Mama? Why would you do such a thing?”

“She’s a witch, Marsali! Did ye not see it? Did she bewitch ye? She stole my husband, and now she’s stealing my daughter!”

“She did not steal me, Mama. Claire is not a witch. She’s a healer. And she kens I’m yer daughter. But she is there for me everyday, and I ken she’s not as evil as ye say. Now please, release Brianna, Catherine and Willie. They have nothing to do with why ye hate Claire so much.”

“No! I didna come all the way from Scotland for nothin’!”

“Ma, I thought ye had come to see me and Fergus, and meet our bairns,” Marsali said, slowly approaching her mother, while Jamie and I stayed put, knowing Laoghaire was more likely to listen to Marsali than to us. “Please, Ma, lower yer pistol. I promise no one will hurt ye. We’ll let ye leave.”

“Marsali…” As much as I tried not to make Laoghaire angrier than she already was, I could not help but intervening. “She kidnapped our children. She…”

“No, Claire. She has done terrible things, I agree. But she’s my mother. She has my sister to take care of. I will not let her be hanggit. Because that’s what is likely to happen if she gets arrested.” I nodded, understanding Marsali’s point. “Now, Ma. Please, lower your pistol. If ye don’t do it for them, please do it for me, for Joanie. For yer grandchildren.”

Laoghaire lowered her gun as she was told, tears escaping her eyes. Jamie reached out to her to take the gun from her trembling hand. I let out a sigh of relief. She was evil, but not like this. As soon as the gun had passed hands, Laoghaire ran away from the dilapidated house, shortly followed by her daughter. Jamie took me into his arms and held me tight. 

“Oh God, Sassenach… are ye alright?” he asked, before planting a kiss on the top of my head, that was resting against his strong chest. 

“Yes, Jamie, I’m fine. I was scared, but I’m fine.”

“Good.” He put a finger under my chin to make me look up at him. “But what were ye thinkin' gettin’ in front of her and tellin’ her those things? She could have shot ye.” 

“It was pretty reckless, I know. But… I felt that she would not have the courage to shoot me right here in front of you. She’s more of the kind of those who poison… or say their ‘rival’ is a witch to get rid of them.” 

“Aye, ye’re right. Come on, let’s go and find the children.”

“Brianna?? Catherine?” I called. 

“Willie? The girls?” Jamie called as well, as we were looking in the rooms of the house where they were nowhere to be found. After calling several times, we both started to lose hope when we heard a clinging sound coming from downstairs, and a voice that was definitely that of the daughter I had raised in the twentieth century:  
“Mama!!!” 

Jamie and I rushed towards and down the stairs. Downstairs Jamie forced the door open and here they were, sitting on the floor, unable to move because of chains and handcuffs. "Bree! Catherine! Willie!" I exclaimed with happiness before dropping to my knees to hug them. They were here, they were alive and everything would be alright.


	9. We're A Family After All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an intense experience in Wilmington, the whole family comes back to the Ridge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! This is chapter 9 of Have Faith! Thank you all for the kudos and the nice replies!

I couldn’t even remember for how long Brianna, Willie and myself had been chained in this dusty basement. Was it a few hours? A few days? We were tired, hungry, and desperate to get out of here. To return to Fraser’s Ridge. To our family. 

The past few hours had not been easy. Brianna was missing her baby more and more, which I could understand. As for Willie, the news of his true parentage had shaken him deeply, and he had barely even said a word since we had had to tell him the truth. He had even fallen asleep, exhausted from all that had happened. Brianna was not moving or saying anything, but I knew she was crying, I could hear it in her breath. I was very scared as well, not knowing whether Claire and Jamie would find us or whether we were going to die here. 

But suddenly, we heard some noise upstairs. We heard Laoghaire’s voice but it was impossible to decipher her words from where we were. 

“Willie! Willie, wake up!” I whispered, kicking his leg as my wrists were handcuffed. 

“What?” he asked, sounding sleepy. How could he sleep in times like these? 

“There’s noise upstairs,” Brianna said, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

“What should we do?” The young boy asked, suddenly stirring.

“Nothing. We don’t know what’s going on,” Brianna replied, keeping her voice down. “We just have to wait, there is nothing we can do.”

We heard Laoghaire shout again, and steps rushing above our heads. Then we heard Claire and Jamie’s voices calling us. That was when we realized they had come to save us and we screamed, hopefully loud enough for them to hear us and find us. I even heard Willie utter a shy “Jamie!” which proved he was not ready to call him “da” yet. A few seconds later we heard Claire and Jamie rush down the stairs and finally, they appeared before us, and threw themselves on the floor to free us. They did not have the keys to our handcuffs, so Jamie took tools which had probably been put on a workbench years ago and started to break Bree’s chains, while Claire was checking whether we were alright and occasionally hugging us. After breaking Brianna’s chains, Jamie broke mine, and finished with his son who did not even dare to look at him. We thus all joined in a giant hug, Jamie, Claire and the three of us. Claire planted a small kiss in my hair, while Jamie muttered inaudible words in Gaelic. 

“I was so scared we would lose you…” Claire whispered. 

Once we had recovered our minds, we slowly got out from the house, and got on a carriage that would take us back to the Ridge. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to examine you? Are you sure you’re okay?” Claire asked for the third time since they had found us. 

“Mama, I will answer your question for the third time, I am fine. What I want is just to go back to Jemmy and for Roger to come back.” Claire sighed and turned to me.   
“I’ll be fine as well, Claire. I don’t need to be examined, Laoghaire did not hurt us,” I answered. 

“Catherine, you know you can call us Mama and Da, you no longer need to call us by our names,” Claire said, a big smile showing across her face. 

“I know, I just have to get used to it!” I exclaimed, before Jamie and Claire laughed.

“And what about you Willie, is everything alright?” Claire kindly asked the young boy, who was absently looking through the window of the carriage. He did not answer. Jamie, who was sitting in front of him, reached for his hand, but William did not let him touch him. 

“What’s wrong lad? Ye’re safe now.” 

“There is NOTHING wrong, now leave me alone!” Willie retorted. Jamie looked at us for more information and decided they would talk to each other privately at the Ridge, to which his son made no objection, and slowly drifted back to sleep. I fell asleep as well, exhausted from the events of the past few days. 

***

[Claire’s POV] 

The day after our return to the Ridge, Jamie and Willie had still not talked to each other, as we had returned to the Big House rather late in the evening and everyone was too tired to do anything. 

In the morning, I woke up to find that Jamie was no longer in our bed. I walked to the kitchen and here he was, having breakfast, his eyes not looking at anything in particular. Not even sure he had seen me, I walked behind him and wrapped my arms around his neck from behind before planting a small kiss on his cheek. 

“Hello, my love,” I said, before sitting down beside him. 

“Hello, Sassenach. Did ye sleep well?” He asked, gently taking my hand. 

“As well as you can sleep when you’ve just rescued your children from a crazy woman. And you?”

“Nae, I didna sleep. I’m worrit about Willie. He hasna spoken to me since we rescued them. Somethin’ must have happened with Laoghaire. I wonder whether she told him anythin’ about me.”

“Like what?” I asked, already knowing the answer to my question. 

“Maybe he kens… about me? About who I really am for him?” 

“But… how would Laoghaire have known that? You told me even Jenny didn’t know about him back then.”

“I ken. But… why would he be like this if it weren’t for Laoghaire and what she told him? 

“I don’t know, Jamie. I think you should go talk to him.”

“Aye, ye’re right, Sassenach.” But just as he got up, Willie shyly entered the room. 

“Excuse me for the disturbance. But Catherine and Brianna said we should have a conversation.”

“Aye, Willie, I was just about to go and speak to ye,” Jamie said. I got up from my chair and started to leave the room to give them some privacy, putting a gentle hand on my husband’s shoulder. 

“Mistress Fraser, you can stay if you want. At least, I don’t mind you staying,” the young boy declared, to my big surprise.

“Are… are you sure? Isn’t this between you and Jamie?” 

“It is indeed. But you have been lying to me as well,” he retorted. Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, he knows, I thought. I sat back down next to Jamie and took his hand under the table. He gently squeezed my small fingers in his big hands. 

“Listen, Willie, before ye say anythin’, I just wanted to…”

“No, please let me speak. ‘Father’.” Before Jamie could say anything, Willie resumed the conversation. “Yes, I know you are my real father, Mr Fraser. That insane woman told me so. And Brianna confirmed this information.”

“How did… how did she know?” I asked, seeing Jamie at a loss for words.

“She said she had led investigation at Helwater. She told me my mother was Isobel’s sister and that you were my father. I would not believe her until Brianna told me everything that happened in Helwater. Or at least what she knew happened.”

“It’s… true. I dinna ken how she found out about this, because I never told anyone. Except Claire. But it *is* true. I was a horseman at Helwater, and yer real mother, Isobel’s sister Geneva, knew who I really was and that I fought at Culloden and threatened my family to have me… bed her, which I did to protect them. But she got with-child eventually, and died just after she gave you life. I kent I was your father but I couldna raise ye, because ye were… illegitimate. Isobel thus decided to raise ye, and got married to Lord John, who promised to look after ye and raise ye as his own child.”

“Why was I never told such a hugely important piece of information? Would have I known someday if it hadn’t been for Laoghaire?”

“I ken it is hard for ye laddie, but…” 

“Hard? Indeed, I grew up with loving parents. My mother came from a very well-off family and my father is a Lord. So yes, learning that my true father is a settler from the Highlands is indeed a lot to take.”

“I ken that. But Lord John is still yer father. I am the one who made ye, but John is still yer Da.”

“Yes,” I confirmed, unsure if I could intervene, “John is still your father. I raised Brianna with another man, and when she found out Jamie was her real father, it did not change the feelings she had for Frank. And she has come to know Jamie and she loves him. Same for Catherine, she met us not so long ago and she loves us. You’ll see, it’s not going to be easy, but you can do this.”

“I do not want anything to change. I want to live with my father. Lord Grey,” the young boy said. 

“I understand,” answered Jamie. “And I would understand if you hated me.” 

“I don’t hate you, Mr Fraser. I understand why you could not raise me and why it was easier for you as well as my parents not to tell me anything. Moreover, you saved my life yesterday. I shall be forever grateful for it. Thank you, Mr and Mistress Fraser.”

“That’s normal. And ye can call us Jamie and Claire. We’re a family, after all,” Jamie declared, a smile on his face and tears appearing in his eyes. I squeezed his hand under the table. 

“Yes, we are.”


	10. I Found My Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As our heroine finally decides to cut the ties with her old life, a final secret is yet to be revealed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Folks. This is the last chapter of Have Faith. A huge thank you for the kudos and all the nice comments you have left me along the way. These really helped me shape my story differently, for the better. And they also encouraged me to write more fics! I love you all!

CATHERINE’S POV

In the late afternoon, I was sitting under a tree, close to the Big House of Fraser’s Ridge. I had learned a few hours before that Willie had sorted things out with Jamie and that he now accepted him as his father. I was happy to see that things were ending well, even if Willie was to go back and live with the father who had raised him. He would still consider him as his father but he would come more often to the Ridge, to spend time with his real father. I was happy that he had two families who loved him. Although, it reminded me of my very own adoptive parents who were living in Paris. Were they looking for me? Did they know why I was gone? Did they *care* I was gone?

After asking myself all these questions, I decided I wanted to write them a letter. A letter that would explain everything to them. I wanted them to know, not because I felt they had the right to, but because I wanted them to face the consequences of what they had done to me, my real parents and Mother Hildegarde. They deserved to know the truth because they deserved to be hurt, after hurting and ruining the lives of so many people.

_Père, Mère,_

_This is Catherine. I am sure you remember me. Yes, I am the child you stole on May 12th, 1744, the day I was born. I know everything. I know you lost your real child in child birth. I know you desperately wanted a child. I know a baby was prematurely born at the Hôpital des Anges on the same night. I know you paid a nurse from l’Hôpital to exchange your dead baby with me. I know you took me and made my real mother believe I was dead. I know you threatened that nurse and Mother Hildegarde to have them killed if they ever told anyone._

_I know all of that because Mother Hildergarde told me everything before she died. She wrote me a letter detailing everything. Then I looked for them. My real parents. I found their family in Scotland, who told me where they lived. I sailed across the ocean to find my parents. And do you know what? I did find them. They welcomed me into their family. I met my brother, my sister, my nephew… For the first time in my life, I felt loved. I felt cared for. I felt free to do whatever I wanted with my life. I felt happy. I am happy._

_I am writing you this letter because I want you to know that you are no longer part of my family. My family is here, in North Carolina. I am no longer in prison with you, waiting for you to find me a husband that could secure you a financial deal. For my new family, I am more than a valuable good. I am their daughter, their sister… and they love me. They showed me more love in a few weeks than you ever did in twenty five years. You will never see me again, nor hear from me again. This is the last letter you will ever receive from me. Do not ever write to me again. Do not look for me. Consider that I’m dead, like your real child (who is buried at l’Hôpital des Anges, have you ever visited her grave? I doubt it)._

_Au revoir, et à jamais._

_Catherine_

I slowly folded the letter and put it in an enveloppe while tears were escaping my eyes and rolling down my cheek. I knew breaking off all ties with them was the right thing to do, what I wanted to do, but it did not mean it was easy. Even if they were not my parents and I had never felt truly happy with them, they were still the people who had raised me. Who had allowed me to live in a comfortable way, who gave me access to culture… ‘No!!’ I thought. They had stolen me away from my real parents and had led them to think I was dead. They had threatened the lives of Mother Hildegarde to keep this secret. And all these years, they had seen me as a means of trade. All of this was inexcusable, I could not give them the benefit of the doubt. Today I was here, in America, with my real family, and I would never go back to France. To them.

“Catherine?” I turned my head to look at Claire who was standing there, and I wiped the tears from my face. “Oh, sorry, I did not want to disturb you, if you need some time alone… It can wait.” Claire said, which made me get up from under the tree.

“No, wait! I was just… I’ve just written a letter to my… parents, explaining everything to them, and how I don’t ever want to see them again. But I’m fine, don’t worry. Why did you need to see me?”

“I… Your father and I wanted to talk to you about something. But… It might… shock you a little, so it can wait until you feel better.”

“Well, I prefer to rip the bandage off right now. I have gone through so much lately that it can't hurt me. If there is another big secret, I need to know. Please tell me now.”

“Alright. Come with me. Jamie is waiting for us in the surgery.”

I followed her into the surgery and Jamie was there indeed, leaning against the table in the center of the room. I sat down on one of the chairs facing him and so did Claire, who took my hand in hers as soon as we were sitting. “Catherine… or Faith… ever since you came into our lives, I’ve been thinking of how I would tell this to you… And then, you and Willie and Bree got kidnapped by Laoghaire and it struck me that you really needed to know the truth.”

“Aye, I agree. Ye’ll see. It’s difficult to believe, but somehow it’s true.”

“What is it? You’re worrying me,” I said. What could possibly happen again? Was I ever going to live without a huge secret being revealed everyday???

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not about you. I mean it is, but it’s not going to affect your life. It’s more about me,” Claire started to confess, before looking up at her husband, who gave her a sign of approval for her to continue. Then she turned back from me. “It’s about… where I come from.”

“You’re English, right?” I asked.

“Yes, I am. You already know this. When I said ‘where I come from’, I meant *when*.” When? What was she talking about? Seeing my puzzled look, she resumed her story. “I come from… another time. And so does Brianna. And so does Roger.”

“What do you mean, ‘another time’?”

“I mean… we come from the twentieth century.” My puzzled look still on my face, I turned toward Jamie.

“Aye, I told ye it was hard to believe. I had the same reaction when she told me that after our weddin’,” Jamie said with a smile of reassurance.

“I don’t think I understand, so… can you tell me more?” I asked. Claire nodded.

“Of course. I was born on October 20th, 1918. That’s about 150 years from now. I had Brianna in 1948. In 1945, just after World War II, I spent a few days in Scotland with my first husband, Frank, on our second honeymoon. Here, we found a circle of standing stones. The day after, I went back there alone, touched a stone, and I fainted. I woke up in 1743, just before the Jacobite rebellion. I was rescued by Murtagh, Jamie’s godfather, and his men. That’s how I met Jamie. A few weeks later, we got married. The year after, we had you, in Paris, and then we had to go back to Scotland to change history and prevent the Battle of Culloden from happening, because I knew how it was going to end. But we failed, and on the morning of the battle, in 1746, Jamie made me go back to the stones because he knew I was pregnant with Brianna. So I raised her in the twentieth century, with Frank. I spent twenty years there, away from Jamie. And one day, in 1968, I found out this big redheaded Scot you see here hadn’t died in that bloody battle. Roger, who was an historian, helped me find him, which we did. And on Christmas, I decided to come back here. To Jamie. And then, Brianna and Roger joined us.”

“This is… I mean… I did not expect this.” I whispered, shocked by this revelation. Was such a thing even possible?

“I understand. I know it is rather unbelievable, but it is true. I can tell you about a lot of things that have not been invented yet, like cars, or the telephone.”

“Aye, Sassenach. How did ye call these wee.. pictures of Brianna ye brought with ye when ye came back?”

“Photographs,” she said with a smile, before turning back to me. “That’s a long story. I’ll explain it later. Overall, I don’t expect you to believe me right now. Brianna would not believe it when I told him who her real father was and that she had been conceived two centuries before. And yet, she is now here with us.”

“It… makes sense. I mean… I didn’t know that one could travel in time, but it can explain the fact that you were apart for twenty years… and that you seem to know how to cure most diseases, or to know exactly how someone died.”

“Honey, I know it’s a lot to take…” Claire whispered, taking my hand.

“Yes, as much as it was for you to learn I wasn’t dead after all,” I answered with a smile. “But I believe you. Ever since I arrived, I did notice something was different about you and Bree and Roger. You all seemed to know more things, and I knew you all had something in common, that you didn’t have with me or Jamie.”

“Aye, lass, we’re the only ones in this family who were born in this century. With Fergus and Marsali, of course,” Jamie said.

“But the most important thing is that we are a family. If one had told me thirty years ago that I would live there with my husband, our children and grandchildren in the colony of North Carolina in the 1770s, I would never have believed it. And yet… we are together. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.”

“Me neither,” I said. “I’m happy to have finally met you. My real parents. I promise you’ll never loose me again.”

“Come here, lasses!” Jamie exclaimed, tears appearing in his eyes, before opening his arms invitingly. Claire and I got up from our chairs and gathered in Jamie’s arms. He planted a kiss in my ginger hair before kissing Claire on her lips.

"So, you finally told her, didn't you?" I turned around to find Brianna at the door of the surgery, a big smile on her face. 

"Yes, we did! Come here, bunny." She practically ran to us and joined our hug, and Claire kissed on her the cheek. The four of us just stood there, crying and laughing in each other's arms. 

“I love ye my girls. My Sassenach and our wee lasses. My family,” Jamie whispered.

Finally. I had finally found my home. 

THE END


End file.
